Eleven-month-old Zhao Yiming is reunited with his mother yesterday at the Chengdu Children's Hospital. The toddler was hurt during the quake and became separated from his family.

If it were not for her being in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Chengdu Children's Hospital, 19-month-old Su Feifei would yesterday have looked just like any other sound-asleep toddler.

But sadly, the tot has been in a coma since last Monday night, when she was pulled out from a pile of rubble in Mianzhu.

"Feifei is the child in the most critical condition at the hospital," Zeng Ping, ICU charge nurse, said, looking anxiously at the girl who lay quietly on a small bed surrounded by medical equipment.

Feifei has already suffered enormously. Her mother and 3-year-old sister were killed when a building collapsed on top of them, and doctors were forced to amputate her left leg soon after she was rescued in a bid to save her life.

Feifei is also suffering from traumatic rhabdomyolysis, also known as Bywaters' syndrome, a serious medical condition characterized by major shock and renal failure following a crushing injury, Zeng said.

It is common among those who have been trapped under fallen masonry.

When asked what psychical or psychological trauma Feifei might yet suffer, Zeng said: "We daren't think about that. Our priority is to save her life."

Feifei's father Su Wentu, who was outside the building that fell on his wife and eldest daughter, waited quietly by the door to the ICU. He said he had seen his little girl only once after she was taken into intensive care, as the room is mostly off limits to non-medical staff.

"But I know she's still alive and that's all I want now," the 27-year-old father said, before turning away and dabbing his eyes with his sleeve.

Su said he was thankful to the hospital, as it had not charged him for anything for Feifei's treatment. The usual fee for staying in ICU is about 1,000 yuan per day.

The hospital currently has 14 children in intensive care, all from quake victims. Three of them have critical injuries, while the rest are suffering from pneumonia, Bao Yifeng, a doctor and also the hospital's information officer, said.

Forty other children injured in the quake are being cared for at the hospital, he said.

"All of them are being given free medical care," Bao said.

"The number of children injured in the earthquake is much larger than this," Bao said.

"But because resources are limited, we can take only those in a critical condition."

In the first days, most of the children the hospital received were suffering from surgical wounds such as fractures.

"But since the weekend, the number of children with problems such as pneumonia and septicemia has been growing, and we expect it to get worse in the coming days," she said.

The 40 child patients, the youngest of whom is just 12 days old, are gathered in a single ward. Yesterday, it was packed with relatives and volunteers, doing what they could to cheer the youngsters.

In the corridor, volunteers helped serve a lunch of pork, celery, cabbage, rice and soup, provided by the hospital.

"The food is good and the patients get three meals a day," Xiao Bo, a volunteer, said.

"There is so much food being donated. Just now, someone sent in a pot of chicken soup."

However, the quality of the care has led to other problems.

"Because of the huge differences in living conditions between rural and urban areas, some people are unwilling to leave, even if their child is out of danger," Bao said.

"We can't force them to go, but if they stay, other kids can't get in," she said.

Staff at the hospital have been working round the clock to care for their charges.

Nurse Yan Xiaoshuang said she got barely any sleep in the first few days after the quake.

"And we must be careful when talking to these vulnerable children.

"The bigger scars may yet be psychological," she said.

(China Daily May 20, 2008)